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Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoPeter Byrne | Associated PressUnidentified golfers dressed for winter weather discuss the suspension of play with a rules official trying to hold on to his hat at the Women’s British Open in Hoylake, England.

By Karen CrouseThe New York Times • Saturday September 15, 2012 6:10 AM

On the 10th tee, her first hole of the day, Cristie Kerr stuck her teed ball in the ground.
Never mind the ball staying put; Kerr said she nearly was swept off her feet by the strong winds
that whipped through Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England, yesterday, wiping out what
little was played in the second round of the Women’s British Open.

Six groups were sent off the first and 10th tees in weather conditions that were bad even by
British Open standards. Some players said the conditions were the worst they had ever seen on a
golf course. Nobody finished, and there was heated debate about whether any golfer even should have
started.

“I thought it was iffy when I went out,” said Michelle Wie, who was playing in the group behind
Kerr’s. “I put a couple balls on the practice green right before I went out and the balls were not
stopping and, mind you, that’s a flat surface.

“I would say windy conditions would be 15 miles an hour; 20 is really bad. The gusts were going
up to 35 this morning. That’s really, really, really, really windy.”

Play was suspended with the first players through four holes, when the winds reached up to 60
mph. In the early afternoon, tournament officials gave up for the day. Players who began their
second round in the gale will resume play this morning with a fresh start. All of yesterday’s
scores were voided. That was perhaps most welcome news to English player Felicity Johnson, who
posted a 9 on the par-4 opening hole. Haeji Kang and So Yeon Ryu were the first-round leaders, at
2-under-par 70.

After reviewing its options, the Championship Committee decided the second round would be played
today, with the cut being reduced from 65 players to the top 50 and ties. The third and fourth
rounds will be played on Sunday, with a two-tee start and no redraw after the third round. The
decision to try for an on-time finish was motivated by the forecast for Monday, which calls for
conditions similar to yesterday’s.

“You can’t play under unplayable conditions, and that’s what we did for three holes,” said Kerr,
who was in the first group off the 10th tee with Norway’s Suzann Pettersen and Japan’s Erina
Hara.

“My ball almost didn’t stay on the tee and I got knocked over hitting my tee shot,” Kerr said of
the 12th hole, which is exposed to the Dee Estuary.

On the green, Kerr said, Pettersen had a 1-foot putt that turned into an 8-footer because the
ball moved as soon as she placed it in front of her marker.

Wie said that by the time she and her playing partners, Carly Booth and Beatriz Recari, got to
the 12th fairway, “We were waiting for quite a while because none of the balls on the greens were
stopping once they were marking it. I think the rules official was called over about four or five
times, and finally the sixth time, Beatriz decided to go up to the green to really make our point
that really it’s unplayable right now.”

Tournament officials said no records were kept on scores being voided, but it is known to have
happened at least three times: in the third round of the 1988 British Open at nearby Royal Lytham
& St. Annes, won by Seve Ballesteros in a Monday finish, and in two events on the LPGA
Tour.

This year’s Women’s British Open was pushed back from its usual July date so it would not
coincide with the London Olympics.